DIY Chunky Necklace

I think I'm now starting to suffer from what I've heard people refer to as the 'post-wedding blues.' I feel like I was crafting various wedding-related items for so long, that now there seems to be a void in my life. I guess this is a good thing for all you blog readers out there, because since the wedding, I have returned to my regular blogging schedule.

Anyway, I decided that it was time I shared a few of the crafty things I did for my wedding with you. I knew Jake and I's wedding colors were going to be gold and some shade of pink. I ultimately went with a mauve color for my bridesmaid dresses - the pink wasn't 'in your face pink,' nor was it a pastel Easter egg color. I liked that it was subtle and thought it would be easy to match jewelry with. Man, was I wrong. You know when you have a vision of the way something should look, but you cannot find the perfect accessory to complete your vision? This was my case in finding perfect jewelry for my beautiful maids. 

So, I decided to make their jewelry. Their simplistic dresses warranted a statement necklace, so I searched for a necklace idea that would really pop against and complement their dresses. Below are my instructions for making your own Chunky Necklaces!

Materials:

• 8 mm glass pearls (75)
• 4 mm glass pearls (38)
• headpins (95)
• 5 mm closed jump rings (19)
• 70 cm of ribbon (2)
• 25 cm 22 gauge silver wire

How to:

• Using the headpins, make wrapped loops of 8 mm pearls (57) and all of the 4 mm pearls (38).
• Begin assembling your clusters; place an 8 mm pearl on a jump ring, followed by a 4 mm pearl, another 8 mm pearl, a 4 mm pearl, and another 8 mm pearl. Do this 18 more times so you have a total of 19 clusters.

• Make a wire wrapped loop on one end of the silver wire, and thread a single pearl onto the end of it. Then, add a cluster. 
• Alternate stringing a pearl and a cluster, until you've added all but two clusters to the wire. End with a pearl.

• Push all of the clusters together on the wire so they bunch up and appear full, then secure the other end of the wire with another wrapped loop.
• Thread the ribbon through the loops on either end until it is halfway through, and fold it on itself.
• Thread one of the remaining clusters through the ribbon, and slide it down until it is close to the other pearls. Repeat on the other side.
• Trim off any frayed ribbon, and secure the necklace around your neck by tying a bow!

Here's a picture of my gorgeous matron of honor wearing her necklace at my wedding. While this tutorial recommends tying the necklace to secure it, I actually attached a clasp to the ribbon on the bridesmaid necklaces. I was concerned that the girls would constantly be worried about their necklaces coming untied throughout the day, so I figured a clasp was an easy fix. I was so pleased with the outcome of this project, that I'm considering selling them!

Please let me know what you think! I will say, this project certainly takes time - it took me about 4 hours to complete each necklace (including adding a clasp). If you are interested in purchasing a custom-made necklace, please email me!

I worked from the tutorial found here.

DIY: Floating Necklace

You know what I love? Jewelry. You know what I hate? Spending money on it. Does anyone like spending $20+ on a necklace when the materials to make it cost a fraction of that? I don't. So, as a beginner jewelry maker, I decided to take on this seemingly simple project: a floating necklace. 

I bought a necklace like this a few years ago, because I liked how delicate it looked. I bought larger beads than the ones in my purchased necklace, because I wanted to play around with the look a little. This is how I duplicated one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. Oh, and I apologize for the quality of the above photo! It came out really grainy.

Materials:

• jewelry board
• bead stringing wire
• 18 beads (I used glass pearls, which you can purchase at any craft store)
• 36 #1 crimp tubes
• 2 #3 crimp beads
• 1 clasp
• flat jewelry pliers
• crimping tool

How to:

• Cut 3 pieces of stringing wire: a 25 inch piece, a 23.5 inch piece, and a 22 inch piece.
• Lay the 25 inch piece of wire in one of the jewelry board channels.
• Thread a crimp tube, a bead, and another tube onto the wire. Repeat this process 6 more times, so you have tube, bead, tube, tube, bead, tube, etc. You should have a total of 7 beads and 14 crimp tubes on your 25 inch piece of wire when you're done.
• Center the 4th bead at position '0' on the jewelry board. 
• Using your flat jewelry pliers, crimp the tubes on either side of the center bead, securing it in place.
• Spread the remaining 6 beads evenly on each side, and crimp the tubes as you did for the center bead.

• Lay the 23.5 inch beading wire in the next board channel.
• Thread 6 beads and 12 crimp tubes onto this wire, as you did previously (tube, bead, tube, tube, bead, tube, etc.).
• Position the beads in the spaces between those on the 25 inch piece of wire so they are staggered relative to the beads on the first strand. Crimp the tubes to secure the beads in place.
• Lay the 22 inch beading wire in the final board channel. 
• Thread 5 beads and 10 crimp tubes onto the wire as done previously.
• Line these beads up with those on the 25 inch wire, and secure by crimping the tubes.

• Hold the three ends of one side of the necklace and thread them through a #3 crimp bead.
• Then, thread the ends through the loop of the clasp and back through the crimp bead to attach the clasp to the necklace.
• Using your crimping tool, crimp the crimp #3 bead. Trim excess wire.
• Repeat these steps on the other side to attach the other piece of the clasp.

And that is how you make a floating necklace! If you look closely, you can see that I used 12 large glass pearls and 6 medium-sized glass pearls. The 6 smaller ones were used as the top beads on each side of each strand. You can, of course, adjust the number of beads and/or length of the necklace to your liking.